The present invention relates to greenhouses, and in particular to greenhouses that are portable, structurally efficient, and easy to assemble and disassemble.
Greenhouses enable both commercial growers and serious hobbyists to produce an artificial environment in which plants can grow all year long. Commercial growers and hobbyists alike can use their greenhouses for a variety of purposes, including growing decorative plants such as flowers and shrubs, or growing vegetables for consumption. Most existing greenhouses are permanent structures which vary in size according to their applicationxe2x80x94commercial growers use enormous greenhouses with elaborate heating and humidifying systems, while hobbyists have smaller ones without the elaborate systems, usually in the back yard of their house.
The permanent nature of most greenhouses means that a substantial investment is required to install and operate one. Before installing a greenhouse, an architect and engineer must be hired to design and properly situate the greenhouse to obtain the proper amount of light, the land for the greenhouse must be allocated and prepared, and a contractor must be hired to build the structure. Once built, the costs of operating a traditional greenhouse are high as well. Depending on the climate, substantial heating may be necessary to maintain the proper temperature in the greenhouse. Special and expensive equipment may be necessary to ensure the right humidity inside.
For commercial growers, who derive revenue from the use of their greenhouses, a large investment in a greenhouse is less problematic. But for hobbyists the high investment involved in building a permanent greenhouse can deter all but the most serious and dedicated. Most hobbyists don""t have room in their yards for such a structure, much less the money to pay for the construction and operation of one. Moreover, even if they have the room for a greenhouse, most hobbyists are constrained in the amount of freedom they have to place the greenhouse in its optimal geographic orientation for growing plants. There is therefore a need in the art for an inexpensive, small-scale greenhouse structure that can easily be set up by a hobbyist or other non-professional user.
The present invention provides a portable greenhouse structure comprising a base in the shape of a right-polygonal cylinder having a top and a bottom, wherein the base comprises a plurality of wall panels connected along abutting edges; a hemispherical roof attached to the top of the base, wherein the hemispherical roof has a polygonal hole in the apex thereof; and a polygonal panel having the same shape as the polygonal hole, wherein the polygonal panel is moveable between an open position and a closed position, and wherein the polygonal panel sealably covers the polygonal hole when in the closed position.
The present invention also provides an apparatus for joining a first panel to a second panel along abutting edges thereof, the apparatus comprising a first extrusion attached to the abutting edge of the first panel, wherein the first extrusion comprises a stem which projects away from a plane of the panel and has a panel side and a mating side; a second extrusion attached to the abutting edge of the second panel, wherein the second extrusion comprises a stem which projects away from a plane of the panel and has a panel side and a mating side; and a clamp which holds the stem of the first extrusion and the stem of the second extrusion together such that the mating side of the first extrusion is in contact with the mating side of the second extrusion.